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I’ve tried to setup NFS on my old Raspberry Pi 1 with Raspbian Stretch. I assumed that I just need to add an entry to the /etc/fstab file and the NFS volume on my Synology NAS would be mounted automatically.

So I’ve added this

mynas:/volume1/databases /mnt/databases nfs defaults 0 0

and thought I would be done. I’ve created the /mnt/databases folder with

mkdir /mnt/databases

and tried to mount everything with

mount -a

and my volume showed up as mounted. After reboot the volume wasn’t mounted anymore and the service couldn’t find its data. So what shall we do? After some research I’ve found these options, which fixed the problem:

The NFS volume now shows up even after a reboot. I’ve also tried to change the configuration of Raspbian so that it waits for the network before any services start but that didn’t fix the problem. Interestingly the entry with only defaults seems to be working on a Raspberry Pi 3 B.

Introduction

I own a Xiaomi Robot Vacuum. This robot can be controlled by the Xiaomi app, however, I don’t like it very much. The idea is to control this robot over HomeKit. To use HomeKit, I use an old Raspberry Pi 1B. The software will be HomeBridge.

Setting up the Pi

Installation and Configuration of Raspbian

Use Etcher to write the image to the SD card. Remount that SD card and add a file called „ssh“ in the root of the mounted partition. This will enable SSH from the beginning so that you can login directly to the Pi. I don’t want to attach a screen or keyboard to that machine so it will only be reachable over the network. Now boot your Pi from this SD card.

Identify the Pi’s IP (e.g. by looking at the network overview in your router). Now connect to that IP with user „pi“. The default password is „raspberry“. Please change the password now with passwd and assign a new user password.

Update everything with apt:

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sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

sudo apt-get clean

sudo reboot

Install nodejs 8.9.4

According to Wojtek only this version works currently with HomeBridge. I did not test any other version so I’m just describing what I did on my machine:

Download nodejs for the PI into your users homefolder, e.g. with wget https://nodejs.org/dist/v8.9.4/node-v8.9.4-linux-armv6l.tar.xz

Generate a new MAC address separated by : using this website. You’ll need the IP address of your Xiaomi robot as well as the token. There are several ways to get the token. I’ve extracted mine from the iOS backup. Instead of uploading the token I’ve used this command on the token taken from the sqlite database:

Check if everything is working by starting homebridge for the first time. It should show a QR code. If it does, cancel the process with ctrl+c

Automate HomeBridge startup

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cp~/.homebridge/config.json/var/homebridge

sudo cp-r~/.homebridge/persist/var/homebridge

sudo chmod-R0777/var/homebridge

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

sudo systemctl enable homebridge

sudo systemctl start homebridge

sudo systemctl status homebridge

Adding the HomeBridge to iOS devices

Install the Home app, if you’ve removed it from your device. You can reinstall it from the App store.

Open the Home app and add a new device

If you’ve give the app access to your camera, you can scan the QR code you’ve seen earlier. However, HomeBridge is now running as a daemon in the background so you won’t see that QR code. You can add the bridge manually by using the PIN you’ve set in the config.

I’m currently using an old Mac Mini from 2009 as my media center. I’ve updated it recently with more RAM and an SSD but it has its problems with Bluetooth, regardless my used bluetooth card or USB adapter. Before this setup I’ve used a Raspberry Pi 3 with LibreElec which I’ve now reactivated successfully.

I’m using the Mac Mini for hearing Spotify, watching Netflix and Sky Go Connect, SNES Emulator with Xbox 360 and PS3 Gamepads and of course Kodi as media center in combination with Hyperion on a Raspberry Pi 1 as Ambilight clone. I’ve had to replace all this functionality with the Pi 3, but luckily it is possible!

I’ve started with LibreElec (8.0.2 stable) and installed it on the Pi 3. I had to copy the necessary Kodi files for setting the used sources and mysql database, so that I get my existing library and its viewing status.

Hyperion was easy to install via HyperionRemote. I only had to enable guest control for external resources in Kodi, so that Hyperion could properly shut down the backlight while the main menu is being displayed.

The SNES emulator can be used on LibreElec using the Kodi add-on Gamestarter. Just follow the GitHub instructions.

My Xbox 360 Gamepads where installed without problems. I just had to connect them via the USB adapter and pair them with the adapter. They are usable in Kodi as well as in Gamestarter without further configuration. I think that PS3 gamepads will probably behave similar.

The Bluetooth Mac Keyboard and Trackpad can also be paired with the Pi 3 via LibreElecs system settings. This allows a better search since you don’t need to use the onscreen Keyboard.

For Spotify I’ve just wanted the Pi 3 to appear as a Spotify connect speaker. The mobile apps and my other machines in the network are a better solution to select the music I want to hear, so I just wanted the Pi 3 to appear as a target. The Librespot provides this cool feature and also enables you to add easily Spotify connect to other rooms in your house with just a Raspberry Pi. Just search in the add-on for Librespot and install it. After a restart its active. Spotify connect is available immediately and stops automatically once a movie is started. It will be available again once the movie is really stopped (being paused is insufficient). Connecting to Librespot is really fast and works even better than with my Heos speakers!

Netflix is a completely different beast. Netflix is relying on a library called WideVine which handles the DRM. Google created a version for Chrome on ARM devices and some LibreElec and Kodi developers found a great way to integrate all this into the next version of LibreElec 9 and Kodi 18. So you need to update to LibreElec 9 alpha. Copy the downloaded update file for Raspberry Pi 2 and 3 and put it into the update folder of your Pi 3. Now just restart and you’ll get the new version. However, be sure to make a backup of your library, just in case anything doesn’t work as expected!

You’ll now need the WideVine libs, you can install them with this command on your Pi:

Shell

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curl-Lshttp://nmacleod.com/public/libreelec/getwidevine.sh|bash

You’ll now only need the plugin.video.netflix add-on. Once it is started you’ll be asked for your Netflix credentials. If you enter everything correctly you’ll have all the options of Netflix displayed as nice library entries in Kodi. Really comfortable if you ask me! It even works directly with the Hyperion Ambilight which is a cool feature. I was able to use 720p without problems, 1080p is too much for the Pi 3 to decode only in software.

Now with LibreElec 9 you’ll have problems starting RetroArch via Gamestarter. Luckily there’s a version for LibreElec 9 which you can just install and update your existing add-on.

Congratulations! You’ve got now a Rasperry Pi 3 with Kodi 19, Hyperion Ambilight, RetroArch Emulator, Xbox 360 Gamepad support and Spotify Connect. Only thing not working is Sky Go Connect Ticket, due to a missing browser and probably DRM related issues. But since I’m just using it for 3 months to see Game Of Thrones I can workaround this with connecting my MacBook to the TV.

I recently upgraded my ambilight clone from 50 to 104 LEDs and I’ve also updated my OpenElec installation on my Raspberry Pi B+ to 6.0.0. However, the hyperiond wasn’t able to communicate properly with Kodi so that no ambilight information was send to the LEDs: The LEDs would always be black, if I want to watch something on the Raspberry Pi.

I’ve opened an issue on github but I didn’t get a useable response so far. The configuration and installation worked fine when I’ve connected with the iOS app or from the command line.

Today I’ve tried to use OSMC as surrogate for OpenElec and I’m really impressed: it worked almost out of the box with my old configuration. So I want to share what’s necessary to migrate from OpenElec to OSMC:

Create a backup from your OpenElec .kodi folder. You’ll find this folder on OpenElec in /storage/.kodi

Backup your hyperion.config.json or create a new one with HyperCon according to your setup

Install OSMC on a SD card

Boot from this SD card and follow the initial configuration screen

Connect via SSH to OSMC. default user/password are osmc/osmc.

Install hyperion according to nadnerb’s instructions. The spi part is important, since OSMC has SPI disabled by default. You’ll also want to remove the lirc line since this blocks the pins necessary for the default installation of WS2801 LEDs.

Copy your hyperion.config.json to /etc. Be sure that you’ve changed the path to your effects folder from /storage/hyperion/effects to /usr/hyperion/effects

My current network setup allows me only to use small bandwidth connections between the living room (that’s where my Raspberry Pi is used as my Mediacenter) and office (my NAS). However, my Macbook is fast enough and can access the NAS wirelessly, so that I often use it as a replacement for the hardwired Raspberry Pi.

However, I cannot use my Hyperion Ambilight setup behind the TV in combination with the Macbook, because its only connected to the Raspberry Pi. But yesterday I’ve found this plugin which enables the Kodi setup on my Macbook to connect to the Hyperion Server on my Raspberry Pi over network.

Download the zip file with the content of the git repository.

Start Kodi on the Macbook and install it using the add on manager. You can point to the zip file directly without the need to unzip it first.

Configure the installed plugin to connect to the ip of your Hyperion server.

Start a video and be amazed that the lights on your TV will work wirelessly 😉